Poetry: Ten Inches of Snow

Ten inches of snow That is what they said But after three it stopped. And the wind blew it into piles Covering up the dog bowl That the neighbor’s cats drink water from. The next morning the old man stumbled down the porch steps Twisting his knee on the dog bowl hidden in the snow. Over his objection, his wife dropped him at the hospital door on her way to tennis, In ER he was fussed over by a nurse half his age. Over the months Bagels and coffee became their ritual every Friday While his wife played tennis And he served aces Under the shade of a tree with a lady half his age. One Friday on a walk She wrapped her smile in the twinkle of his eyes And their hugs intertwined with lips. He stayed in denial for several months til one day coming down the wooden steps He saw the dog bowl under the porch and told his wife “I never saw it coming, One bagel at a time, But I often wondered if it would have happened if it snowed ten inches, But I often wondered if it would have happened if it snowed ten inches. Roe 2/1/21